Southern Illinois rolls Northern Iowa, 31-17, on Homecoming

Photo by Elijah Wampler

FINAL STATS

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois returned to its winning formula, controlling both sides of the line of scrimmage and showcasing its elite athletes during a 31-17 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday.

The Homecoming victory was especially sweet, considering the host of Saluki Football alums on-hand that included current and former NFL players Jeremy Chinn, Branson Combs and Ryan Neal.

The No. 16-ranked Salukis (5-3, 2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak in convincing fashion — they led, 31-3, and only a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns by the Panthers (2-6, 0-4) made the score look closer than the game really was.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “This is a good group and I was confident in the way they would play, and learn from the previous weeks. We have to keep believing in ourselves and in our process, because we have a good football team.”

The first half was all SIU. It started with a ground-and-pound, five-play opening drive that featured four-straight runs, including a 31-yard burst up the middle by Eddie Robinson and a 32-yard touchdown gallop down the left sideline by Chandler Chapman.

“Back there five yards deep at quarterback, I could hear how hard the offensive line was coming off the ball, the aggressiveness that they had today,” said SIU quarterback DJ Williams. “They dominated up front, and it was about the backs just taking care of the football, running hard, doing what they do.”

Robinson had a career-high 86 yards on nine carries, and Chapman added 81 yards on six attempts, as Southern’s ground game averaged 6.1 yards per carry. The two have given the Salukis a formidable 1-2 punch in the run game in recent weeks.

“Chandler is my bro off the field, too,” Robinson said. “We’re both humble, both understand our strengths and weaknesses. We help each other in the film room and give each other constructive criticism, and so when you got a guy like that in your position room, you want to play for him so there’s no fall-off when he comes out.”

Southern’s next two touchdown drives came through the air, as Williams connected with Aidan Quinn on a tight-end screen for a 38-yard score, and later found Jay Jones deep over the middle for another 38-yard strike to give the Salukis a 24-0 advantage.

“We felt like last week we came out a little flat, so we wanted to get back to the level we know we can play at,” Quinn said. “I think the last two weeks were a little bit of a wake-up call for us, and now we’re back in the win-column and getting ready to finish out the season strong.”

Williams completed 19-of-23 passes for 190 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 82 percent completion percentage was the sixth-highest in school history.

“I called (DJ) into the office today after chapel and reminded him I think he's the best player in the country,” Hill said. “Seasons are long and not every game is going to be some monster performance. I thought it was a workman-like outing, just playing winning football, not trying to do too much.”

Williams agreed, “I didn't have a big job to do, but just get those guys the ball. I’m like a point guard out there.”

The game was essentially over by halftime, as SIU led, 24-3, and had 333 total yards for an average of nine yards per play.

Southern’s defense had its best performance since Week 3 at UT Martin, holding the Panthers (2-6, 0-4) to 247 yards. UNI’s offense was 2-of-12 on third down and its quarterbacks were sacked four times under heavy pressure.

“Our game-plan was just to get back to our identity and stop the run,” said cornerback Jeremiah McClendon, who stuffed the stat sheet with five tackles, a sack, an interception and two pass breakups. “We have the ability to do it, and this game is something to build off of.”

The Salukis welcomed back linebacker Chris Presto, a key piece of the defense who was out last week. He had six tackles, plus a sack that was waived off by a penalty.

“Our front four were hunting and that's the energy we need every single week,” said Presto, referring to Vontrell Chairse, Bernandin Fleurima Jr. and Amir Dwight, who each had sacks. "It was good to have the trust from the coaches to pressure today and it was effective.”

The special teams contributed as well, as Tae Marrero recorded the fifth-longest punt return for a touchdown in school history, becoming the first Saluki to take one to the house since Craig Turner in 2006.

“Coach Hill just had faith in me,” Marrero said. “After I mis-handled the first one, he came over and told me that I was going to break one. When the time presented itself, everybody did their 1/11, I saw a crease, hit it, and it was history after that.”

The only blemishes on an otherwise sparkling day — punter Paul Geelen had a pair of punts blocked that led to 10 easy points for the Panthers. There was also a fumbled exchange in the fourth quarter that led to a score.

“We got a little sloppy giving up those two late scores, one blocked kick and one fumble by the backups on offense,” Hill acknowledged.

Thick in the playoff hunt, Southern has four games left — three of them on the road, including next week's game at Murray State, Williams’ former school.

“This team is hard-nosed and resilient,” Williams said. “Two losses was not going to stop this team. We can't buy into outside noise. We think we're a great team, and we got to go out there and prove it.”

Photos by Camryn Lincoln and Elijah Wampler